


A Place Where You And I Can Stay.

by Jasiono



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Healing, Light Angst, M/M, Multi, dadvid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-14 17:19:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13012500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jasiono/pseuds/Jasiono
Summary: Everyone hears horror stories about parents abandoning their kids at summer camp, but what happens when that story becomes Max's reality? David being the parent Max always needed, of course.





	1. In Which David’s Hard Truth is Max’s Hard Reality.

August. Late August, actually. Chill breezes could already be felt gliding through the air. The day had been especially tearful. Yes, some of the tears had come from campers, saying their goodbyes to friends they had made during the summer, although most of the crying came from, of course, David. The ones that cared did their best to console him, While others just made sure their bags were packed. The only one who didn’t interact, who didn’t cry, or say a goodbye, or even curse out David for being too emotional, was Max.

Eventually, the parents begin to file in, and pick up their children at various times. Niel by his father, and Nikki by her mother soon after. Nerris by her parents, and Preston by his grandmother in a well maintained Chrysler Valiant. One by one, parents pick up their kids and drive down a dirt road that already has some brown leaves scattered in the dust. Until, finally, Gwen and David are alone with Max, who has been slowly getting more and more silent as the day went on, as if he was expecting something. Eventually, David, still maintaining a smile, but not with much enthusiasm, suggests they simply thought pick up as on another day, and he heads into the cabin to call them, only to return soon after, saying the number was disconnected. He perks up a bit, but now it’s clear he’s forcing it, and tells Gwen to head home, and that he can drive Max back to his house, due to the address on the forms.

They leave at sundown, Gwen going one way, and Max and David going the other. David’s a bit worried, due to the six hour long car trip ahead of them, but he keeps a brave face on, trying to ignore that Max has been completely silent for the past hour or so, with his hood up. He stops once or twice for gas and coffee, but at 2 am, he arrives at the address and is met with immense confusion. The house is… vacant. It’s not abandoned, but it’s vacant. The walls had been painted in the past month or two, he could tell, but there’s no one living here, and a for sale sign out front with the image of a realtor with much too much plastic surgery, and a generic 800- number. He glances at the sheet again and again, wondering if he’s at the wrong house, or in the wrong city before he hears a car door open, and close, then small steps behind him.  
“I told you, David. Summer camp is where parents send kids when they don’t want to deal with them.”

David turns, and sees Max’s face for the first time in an eternity, it seems. He realizes Max has gotten no sleep. No rest. And, judging from the puffiness of his eyes, no break from crying as well.

“I told you they didn’t care. They told me the day they dropped me off, that they didn’t. And that would be the last time I saw them. I just… didn’t want to believe them, you know?”

Right there, Max sat down on the dew covered grass, and David held out his hand, trying to find the words to ask him not to do that, not to get his pants wet, but nothing came out.

“I just… found it hard to believe them. But, you know, I guess some parents just weren’t meant to be parents. And some kids… just weren’t meant to exist.”

Max looks up, and for the first time, David sees a smile, small and sad as it is, directed at him. “Thanks for… trying David, but no. Sometimes, no amount of positivity can solve things. Sometimes, things just fucking suck, and any amount of happiness or hope you throw at it just gets… swallowed up. I had to learn that. Now you have to too.”


	2. In Which Someone Made Hotel Beds, and Now Max and David Have To Lie In Them.

“And that would be a room with two beds, correct?”

The concierge in this hotel had been up only for a few hours thus far. He was used to doing night shifts, so getting to work nights was a blessing, especially with the hourly rate. Although, he had to admit, he had seen some shady stuff working these hours. And, well, while this wasn’t shady, it wasn’t unshady either. A male, adult, with a child, also a male, and the two look nothing alike, trying to get a hotel room together at 2:30 AM. 

“Yes, yes, please.” Even so, he couldn’t help but feel that this man, tall, and red-headed in front of him wasn’t that type of person. He didn’t look like he was about to have fun. He looked... tired. Like the universe had taken him on a ride he hadn’t asked for. Making a final decision, he pulled out a single card, and slid it towards him. “Check out is at 11.” 

David, on the edge of exhaustion, gave a small smile, and a nod, before taking it, and pulling a child’s suitcase, presumably the one that belonged to the kid who had been sitting silently in a lobby chair for the entirety of the conversation, with him. Soon, the lobby was empty once again.

The room itself was nothing special. Two beds, with a night stand behind them. The hallway was close enough to the pool to smell like chlorine both from the heavy amount they used to keep it free of epidemics and STDs, and swimmers who would walk back to their room still dripping. David removed his neckerchief, his vest, and his shoes, some small part of his brain subconsciously treating them like a security blanket. Max also walked in, just removing his hoodie, blue and still bearing wet spots from wiping away tears, before climbing in the bed farthest away from the door, turning towards the window and air conditioner, and doing nothing else, not even climbing under the blanket.

David wanted to say so much. Ask so much. He wanted to comfort Max the same way he’d comfort any of the campers, with a warm hug, and a few tissues from one of the back pockets on his shorts. Instead, he went into the bathroom, and did as much of his nightly ritual as he could. A quick face wash with greasy, cheap hotel soap, followed by a quick brush with minty toothpaste, rinsed out with about half of a hotel mouthwash. 

Returning from the bathroom, he saw Max hadn’t moved. Not an inch. In a frightening second, he wondered if there were any medicines in the car. Any amount that Max could’ve used to... 

A sniffle brought him back to reality. No, of course not. The closest thing he had was a few cans of R. C. Cola bumping around the floor on the backseat he kept for when he needed a sugary treat. The shock of the moment, however, brought some energy with it. As he went around the room, shutting off lights, he stopped by his bandana, unrolling it, and feeling the worn shirt he wore when he was Max’s age in his hands. 

“Max.” He could hear the springs on Max’s bed creak the instant after he said it, the first word spoken between them since they had gotten back into the car after finding Max’s home.... His house, was no longer such.

“Were they... the reason you kept trying to escape from the camp?” The lack of a response net no affirmation, or denial for that matter. It wasn’t until Max sat up, in the same yellow shirt that David held in his hands, abiet years newer, that Max broke his silence. 

“Yes.... no. No. I don’t know.” David had never seen a kid’s eyes so bloodshot. “It wasn’t about my parents, I guess. They were leaving anyway. I just wouldn’t made it a bit harder. A bump in the road they still would’ve driven over.” David could see in the mirror he was facing that Max had begun to tear up again, and a quick swipe with the back of his hand made the camp counselor cringe internally. He knew that skin was going to be raw for a while. “But... when you have a place you live, knowing you can’t go back to it, it’s scary, you know? I mean, come on David, I’m only 10 fucking years old. I shouldn’t be caring about this shit. I shouldn’t have had parents that didn’t fucking want me. I shouldn’t have the cynicism of a fucking Vietnam War Vet. But you know what? That’s the fucking world I live in. And...” He covered his face with his hands. “And I don’t know. Just... imagine this. You’re sent to a prison for a crime you didn’t commit, and you’re told there’s going to be nobody and no one waiting for you after you get out. Alright? Now imagine the warden keeping you there is the most fucking annoying ray of fucking sunshine in existence.”

David tried to imagine it, and... was that rage he felt? “Why... didn’t you call the police, Max? Or tell anyone? I don’t...” He turned as he said it, and the rage he felt in his gut in that moment, a thousand fold, was on the face of Max, who was standing on the bed. “You think I didn’t, David? You think that Day fucking One, I didn’t run to the nearest fucking Payphone, and called the fucking police, and told them what happened? Do you know what they did, David, they fucking LAUGHED.”

Max’s anger drained as quickly as it had arrived, and he let his legs kick out from under him as he plopped down on the bed. “I mean, it’s not like I don’t get why. ‘Help me, my parents shipped me off at summer camp because they don’t care about me and I’m never going to see them again.’ I mean, I bet they get that a few times every summer, right?” He went still again, half slumped over, reminding David of the Macrame doll he made the first day of Nikki and Neil’s time at Camp Campbell. “So, I had to escape. But I didn’t. So now I don’t have a home. Or a life.” 

This time, when he went on his side, he pulled the blankets over him, up to his neck, and went still once more. David could do nothing. He couldn’t speak. He even if he could, he didn’t know what he’d say. With a rush of relief, he realized that he didn’t need to say anything. Small, shallow, almost silent breaths had filled the room, and David gave a small sigh as he knew Max had fallen asleep. It was nearly 3 in the morning, after all. And Max, who had to deal with all this, really was only 10. 

David awkwardly tried to shut off the light, doing it as slowly as possible in an effort to mask the loud clicking sound that accompanied it. Soon, only the bedside table was on, and as he slipped beneath his own sheets, he looked over to the motionless bed of black hair. 

“Goodnight, Max.”

And with one last click, the room was plunged into darkness.


	3. In Which Watered Down Coffee Is No Substitute For Emotional Stability And Confidence, But, For Now, It’ll Do.

For a moment, Max thought he was in his tent. The chill in the air as palpable, and he wondered if fall had happened suddenly, when his back was turned. Once he felt the softness of the mattress instead of a thin padded layer over a dirt floor, however, the past twenty four hours rocketed back to him. Making him wish he was still unconscious.

Sleep, it seemed, does not come back so easily once it’s let go. Since Max accepted he was, yes, awake, he decided to take in as much information about his surroundings as he could. At first, he thought he had woken up before dawn, but since his eyes were now the slightest bit open, he could see the black-out blinds were drawn, which he was sure they weren’t last night, since he fell asleep to the sight of cars passing by on a nearby highway. 

Second, his nose caught a familiar scent in the air. Coffee, but nothing fancy. Something made from ground that were probably sixty percent actual coffee, the other forty percent consisting of the ashes of mafia members, he guessed. Still, a classic comfort would be a welcome thing this day of all days. 

Next, he knew why the room was so chilly. Although it was subtle, the green light on the machine below the window was on, most likely an air conditioner, which was cooling down the entire room. Max originally thought it would annoy him, but as he drew the covers tighter around him, he found the contrasting warmth of the blankets and the cool of the air calmed him in some way.

Finally, one last thing caught his attention. Although they were barely audible over the now noticeable groan of the air conditioner, he could hear male voices whispering in hushed tones. Slowly, Max turned over, and through slitted eyes, he could make out David, leaning against one wall, back in his sneakers, but with his vest and bandana still neatly placed on a nearby counter. Who he was talking to, however, were two men in blue uniforms.

“David, what the fuck!” Both David and the cops jumped at the sudden noise, and the movement of a ten year old boy shooting up to a sitting position in bed. “Seriously, it hasn’t even been a day, and you’re already trying to pass me onto the fucking cops? Are you shitting me David?” 

Although Max could see David’s eyes were bloodshot, he still felt some sense of betrayal course through him. He leaped off the bed, grabbing his hoodie, which had been folded some time between last night and this morning, and placed on the bedside table. “So, what, going to send me off to some fucking foster home now? Yeah, with any luck, they’ll be worsE than the last ones. At least they didn’t make me do fucking kiddie porn!” 

While the two cops looked at each other aghast, David simply sighed, and gestured to the two men that were now technically behind him. “Max, please. They’re not here to take you away. We’re just... trying to find your parents. Although, I won’t get your hopes up. There hasn’t been any luck in that area, and doesn’t look like there will be.” As he spoke, he pulled a large, nearly full pot of coffee out of a nearby machine, and poured its contents, as much as could fit, into a styrofoam cup, and set it away from him. A peace offering, perhaps, for Max. Unable to resist the poison that his body had become accustomed to, he walked forward, after his hoodie was securely on his person, and took the cup, sipping the vile liquid black. 

“Uh. Yes, Yeah, kid, sorry.” Max grimaced at the cop’s voice, and didn’t respond. While the policeman was quiet for a second, Max saw David gesture out of the corner of his eyes, trying to tell the cop to keep talking. “It... appears they sold the house to a house flipper for cash, and donated the furniture to a local charity. They took the cash, and bought two tickets to Russia, but... unfortunately... we called the airport, and a few minutes ago we got the confirmation that... they never arrived. They most likely got off at an earlier stop, so they couldn’t be found. Everything points to the fact they wanted a fresh start. Away from everything.”

“And me.” The bitterness of the ten year old’s voice was only matched by the swirling blackness in the white cup he was holding. “Yeah... Yeah, Kid. And you. They really didn’t want to be found. So... we were discussing what to do in situations like this. Mr. and Mrs. Jindal didn’t seem to have any family, did they?”

Max shook his head. “No. Dad’s an only child. Mom had a sister that OD’d a few years back.” He took another sip of the drink, annoyed to find it empty. Without needing any indication, David took the cup from Max’s hands, filled it back up nearly to the brim, and handed it back. Max’s frown lessened a few degrees, quietly hoping David would find it as a sign of appreciation. “And I never knew my grandparents. I knew my grandfather on my mother’s side died in a steel factory accident or something, but that’s about it. They’re either not around geographically, or on this plane of existence. So take that as you will.”

The cops took this opportunity to mutter to each other, so low that Max couldn’t make out a single word. They both glanced to David, who nodded gently, before they nodded back. “So, look. You don’t have family, and we don’t want to send you out into a frankly kinda flawed system, so... how would you feel about going with Mr. Pince for the time being?”

Max could only stare in confusion before turning to David. “Wait. Your last name is... Pince?” David gave a half-awake laugh, before pouring himself a cup of coffee. “Yes, Max, my full name is David Jenkins Pince. Only took you two months to learn it.” 

Max glanced between the police and David. So many things went through his mind at that moment. One thing remained consistent, however. Through everything. Through rocks being shot at camp mascots, bonfires trying to be lit in the rain, and Pizza as an apology, David only wanted the best for Max. Maybe David’s idea of what’s best for Max, but still. He, in his own way, cared.

“It wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen to me. So, yeah. I guess I could stay with him. At least I know he wouldn’t just... vanish, you know? I’m pretty sure he’d die before hurting a kid.” Even though he didn’t look directly at David, he felt an aura of sunshine explode off of him, nearly making Max pull his hood up to avoid it. 

The rest of the morning was... calm, relatively. Max answers what few questions the police had left for him, his shoes were found and promptly equipped, and a bill was paid. Before long, both adult and child were back in the beat up old station wagon, and they had begun the long trek back to....

“David.”

David was caught a bit off guard by the boy who was staring out into a forest they were currently driving through. They had been on the road for the about three hours now, and had stopped a while back to pick up sandwiches. David chose a nice tuna fish, and Max had selected a Ruben.

“Oh, uh, yes, Max?” He took another bite of his fishy lunch, making sure to never look farther away from the road than a few seconds.

“I know this is stupid, but it just occurred to me that, you know, I don’t actually know where we’re going, so if you could f-” He took a breath. Although, usually, he found David’s sunny personality unbearable, he did notice that since last night, the brightness had been turned down a few notches. At the same time, he hated to admit it, but David was currently Max’s sole ally on the planet. “So, please. Where are we actually headed?”

David took on a look of surprise for a few moment, before an imperceptible nod was made, as if a conflict had resolved itself in his head. “Well, Max, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. I live in a place called Westminster Acres. It’s about... an hour away from the camp? And, well, it’s a nice place. A really nice place! And you might know most of the kids from the camp there too! I mean, Dolph’s going back to the Army base, Ered, I learned, was just there so that her dads could spy on Campbell, and Gwen, well, she actually lives an hour in a different direction.”

For a moment, Max was flabbergasted. He had expected to hear that David lived in a log cabin, or in a tent. But, it sounded like he lived in a suburb.

“Oh, yeah. What do you even do the other nine months of the year?” Like a lot of kids, Max didn’t really consider what authority figures did when they weren’t doing their jobs. David, in response, swallowed his final bite of sandwich before laughing. “Max, isn’t it obvious? What other job has me free during the summer, that matches my skill set? I’m a teacher!” 

Max threw his eyebrows up at this, and before he could reply, David continued talking. “Well, Substitute teacher. At Westminster School. And Westminster High. Both are enormous schools, and... oh, wait! I have to get you enrolled. I can’t risk you missing even a day of school! We have a few weeks, but oh my gosh! We need to get you a backpack, writing implements, notebooks....”

At that moment, the woods they were driving through caught Max’s attention. For just a second, David’s voice fading into the background, it was peaceful. The sun was bright, and his hoodie, one of the last remnants of his previous life, felt warm. Just for a moment, he swore, he saw bright, glowing, green eyes in the woods, before they were gone. 

A wolf. Or maybe, more than one. Either way. He saw a wolf. But then it was gone. And it didn’t matter. He kept an eye out for a moment, a minute, an hour more, and the sun started to dip below the horizon as the wood’s presence lessened, and was replaced with more streets and sidewalks. 

Max wasn’t sure what to expect of David’s house, but this wasn’t it. It wasn’t logs, or covered in pelts or just a tent on a patch of land. It was... a house. A bit more modern than the one that was no longer his, but normal. David had gone ahead of him to unlock the door, and check that the bi-weekly cleaner had kept his home relatively dust free, while Max had time to look around. 

Camping paraphernalia was indeed scattered about, and obvious. Books on flora and fauna, flowers pressed into clear picture frames, even some hunting knives, ornate and strapped inside their leather holsters. David was somewhere, on a phone, talking about forms, or dinner, or something. Max couldn’t help but look at pictures around as well. Indeed, David was in most of them, sometimes holding a fish, or sitting by a campfire, but he was rarely alone. In some, he looked young, almost Max’s age, with a man with red hair and a moustache, and a kind looking woman with blonde hair and green eyes that looked so familiar. Mother and father, Max guessed. More pictures still grabbed his attention. David at a party, holding a can of what seemed to be Coke, while everyone else had beers. Two pictures of him, side by side, one doing the Camp Campbell salute as a camper, and as a counselor. Tears seemed to be in his eyes for both pictures. Finally, a collage. This truly caught Max’s attention. He remembered when David said he was a teacher, but this... this made an impression on him. There had to be a hundred pictures on this wall. Each one, in a different classroom, with David in the foreground, and the class in the background. Some kids were holding up pictures with numbers on them. And as Max looked, he realized the number where the amount of times they’ve had a picture with David. And every single one them had a smile so large, it looked like it was about to split their faces in half.

Max stared for a moment more before the sound of the front door opening slightly, before being kicked wide opened startled him out of his daze.

“HONESTLY. Usually, we’re side by side on the drive back but NO. You apparently had something More IMPORTANT David! My Grandmother has been Worried SICK! I hope you have any sort of explanation before I go KUBRICK On your ass!”

Max had recalled, in that moment, that many kids from the Camp did indeed live in the same town, but that fact had not pierced his mind until his aqua eyes had met the golden, passionate eyes of Preston Goodplay.

“MAX! What on EARTH are you doing here, and where the FUCK is David?”


	4. In Which Furious Theatrical Passion Brings Back Some Semblance Of Stability To Max’s Life.

“So. What you’re telling me is that not only have you been abandoned by both of your parents, and are now living with our camp counselor, but your future is totally up in the air.” 

It had been a few hours since Preston’s fiery interrogation of David had netted the reason for his disappearance, and pizza had been ordered in order to make up for the lack of fresh ingredients in David’s house. Max had been introduced to his new room, which, for the moment, sported a light blue “Life on the Sea” theme, plucked straight out of an interior design magazine, perhaps too well.

“Yeah. It’s absolutely-”

“MAGNIFICENT!”

Preston had chosen to stay in David’s house while the red headed man himself had ran over to say hello to a Grandmother he had come to know over the years, and also repair a leaky faucet that had developed while he was at camp. The two kids had taken to Max’s room, each with a plate with a greasy slice on it. Those had been finished quickly, and had since been talking about Max’s situation. 

“What the fuck are you talking about, Preston?”

“What am I talking about Max? I’m talking about a story worthy of BROADWAY!” 

Preston took to the bed Max had been sitting on, leaping onto the fluffy comforter and striking a pose, lifting a hand to the sky. “Max, a child scorned and torn from his life, thrust into the wild winds of reality! I can imagine the Posters already! Damn, if only Ralph McQuarrie didn’t bite the fucking DUST already, I swear, Death is taking all the talent in this world before I can USE THEM!”

After a few deep breaths, Preston fell to the mattress behind first, and sat for a moment before placing a hand on Max’s shoulder. “No, but, you know. Your parents sound like total fucking cunts.”

Max had the initial instinct to twist his body to remove Preston’s touch, but something told him to let that small bit of contact stay. While he didn’t want to admit it, David most of all, it was comforting, and helpful in this moment.

“Look, Preston, I appreciate it, but. I’ve never been one to shake my fist at the past and curse it out. I’m more of a cursing out the present kind of guy. You don’t need to do this.”

Preston scoffed, and did a somersault off the bed, sticking a gymnast's pose as he landed the dismount. “I’m not exclusively doing this for you, Maxwell. I’m over at David’s house as often as I’m at my own. Nice to have someone who can actually hear me when I talk. This is more to ensure you won’t get in the way of testing my writing. You seem agreeable enough out of the Camp setting. I can work with this.”

Max had considered fighting against this act of cockyness, but if he was going to be honest with himself, he appreciated Preston’s type of attitude. He hated a lot, if not most things, but one of the things he hated the most was people being dishonest with other people, and themselves. It’s one of the reasons he was so opposed to David when he first met him. He didn’t believe anyone could actually be that happy outside of substance abuse, but after seeing what he went through, just to do a simple ceremony for the camp, he began to believe that David was honest in everything he did. That’s how he felt about Preston from moment one. Every emotion, every movement, every insult and praise, was entirely, almost erringly, honest and true. 

“Yeah, I guess we can. Quick question, though. Are Nikki and Neil in this town as well?”

Preston took on a mask of confusion for a second before it was dispelled by the visage of exhaustion caused by the mundane. “Oh, the wild child and the fish out of water. Yeah, I think so. I might’ve saw them around school, but this was their first year at the camp, so I never talked to them until this summer. You should be able to find them online pretty easily, if not, school starts in two weeks, and you can find them then. Neil’s a year above his age, but still hangs around from everyone from our year. Either way, you’re lucky to go somewhere people already know you.”

Max took a second to acknowledge he could’ve very easily gone somewhere the isolation he usually feels could’ve gotten even worse. “Yeah, I guess that’s true.”

Preston took their plates back to the Kitchen while Max followed. Goodplay spouted random trivia about the Lion King broadway play, occasionally cursing out the upcoming CG movie, all of which, Max was half-hearing. He was used to people talking at him at camp, whether it was Nerris and her cards, Neil and his computers, or Nikki and her animal husbandry. This... felt normal. Something he needed right now.

“Thank you so much for hanging around, Preston!” David had walked back in mid-rant about Eric Andre and Dadaism, which Preston was displaying by taking a carved wooden bird statue and placing it on his shoulder.

“No issue, David! It’ll be nice to have someone to talk to besides you when I come over now! A playwright can always use more of an audience!” Preston gave a small wave goodbye to Max, who returned it with a half-nod, acknowledging it. Soon, the house on the left had received it’s actor back, and everything got... quieter. David talked a bit about the school, and Max did his best to pay attention, but exhaustion was overtaking him quickly. 

“David, I appreciate this and all, but I’m heading to bed for the night. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Before he could head down the hallway to his new room, David stopped him with a hand on his small shoulder.

“Max. I know this is early to ask, but... are you going to be okay here? With me?”

Max couldn’t help but look up into David’s eyes, seeing the concern there. A concern he wasn’t used to seeing in someone focused on him, parental or otherwise. Max looked at the floor and closed his eyes before sighing. “I don’t know. I’m not saying yes, and I’m not saying no. It’s all too fucked up in my head to tell, so for now, I’m alright being here while figuring it out. Just, don’t be surprised if I steal all your shit and go to Russia to see if I can find my shitty parents and kill them with one of your fucking knives. But... it’s not likely.”

Even though he felt a pinprick of fear that David would think that he would be better off without Max in his home, it was dispelled as a hand ruffled his hair, and was pulled away before Max could shoo it off. “Good night, Max.”

Max gave a sneer before walking down the darkening hallway. “Yeah, yeah. Night to you too.” As he was swinging his door shut, he paused it’s closing for just a moment. “And thank you.” And a soft slam and click signified that the light had fully fallen, and the first day as David’s ward had drawn to its close.


End file.
